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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Rheology of dense vibrated granular flows: Nonmonotonic response controlled by granular temperature

A. Plati1,*, G. Petrillo2, L. de Arcangelis3, A. Gnoli4,5,6, A. Puglisi4,5,6,†, A. Sarracino7, and E. Lippiello3

  • *Contact author: andrea.plati@universite-paris-saclay.fr
  • †Contact author: andrea.puglisi@cnr.it
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, L032010 – Published 21 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nzmt-b7bf

Abstract

We study the rheology of dense granular materials subjected to vertical vibration by using numerical simulations of a stress-imposed vane rheometer. The effective viscosity increases with confining pressure, decreases with vibration amplitude, and exhibits a nonmonotonic dependence on frequency: Weakening is observed at intermediate frequencies but is lost at high frequencies. We show that the rheological response is governed by the balance between grain-scale agitation energy and the stabilizing effect of confinement. This framework reconciles previously observed trends in viscosity and friction weakening and emphasizes the central role of energy injection and dissipation in determining granular flow properties under vibration.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, L032010– Published 21 July, 2026
  • Received 17 November 2025
  • Accepted 24 February 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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